28 Jun Your stay in the Aude
Everyone has already passed through Narbonne, a motorway junction between eastern France and Spain, from northwest to southeast, a place of passage since the Romans…but have you ever stopped there, have you ever had the curiosity to discover the Narbonnais, now called “Côte du Midi”, for a few days?
Be careful, if you come there, you may not want to leave because there is so much to do and see.
The department of Aude is sometimes called “Little France”. From the ski resort to the seaside resort, the landscapes are very varied, subject to the oceanic climate as to the Mediterranean climate, the atmospheres sometimes differ within 50km.
Here you don’t just go to the sea, you go to the ponds and their salt pans, to the beaches stretching to infinity, to the river cascading into abysmal gorges.
Here the gentle hills of the Minervois, so popular with cyclists, foreshadow the steep rocks and wild forests of the Corbières and the nearby Pyrenees. In the north of the department, it is the Cabardès and the Montagne Noire, its vertiginous fir trees casting a dense and perpetual shadow on the ground.
In one hour’s drive you can reach the Mediterranean and its thundering cicadas, the green valleys of Normandy and the deep forests of the Haut Jura!
What can I say about the history : from the Roman Antiquity to the construction of the Canal du Midi through the dark pages of the Cathars, the Aude is a treasure of works of art, witnesses of the ingenuity of Men ; magnificent abbeys, Cathar castles, real citadels of vertigo, waterways still in use….the hardest will be to choose where to start !
To help you I have chosen to make some suggestions according to the length of your stay.
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– If you stay 2 days :
Historical center of Narbonne, Halles until 1pm (lunch at @plancheettirebouchon)
Visit of the archaeological museum Narbo Via and/or Amphoralis in Sallèles
Le Somail, bookshop “le trouve tout du livre”. Dinner at Cook’n Roll
Abbey of Fontfroide
Village of Gruissan and its salt flats (lunch at the restaurant “le saulnier”)
In Narbonne -beach, afternoon in the sand at “@Hospitalet Beach”. Enjoy a signature cocktail before heading home. Dinner along the canal at @”la maison de l’écurie”.
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If you stay 3 days :
Same as 2 days program +
The sea ponds by the road of the ponds, from Bages to Peyriac de mer, walk on the boards and lunch at the @Vieux Tonneau.
Visit of the oil mill @l’Oulibo in Bize Minervois
Visit of the village of Minerve a few kms away (a small incursion into the Hérault department!) Dinner at the restaurant @”la cave” at la Caunette.
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If you stay 4 days :
Same as 3-day program +
The Corbières, the medieval village of Lagrasse, its monastery, its craftsmen. Visit of the Cyril Codina vinegar factory and lunch at the @”1900″.
Route of the Cathar castles, Quéribus and Peyrepertuse, passing by the village of Cucugnan celebrated by Alphonse Daudet.
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If you stay 5 days :
Same program 4 days + (escapade in the park of the High Languedoc in Herault country)
Roquebrun by the road of St Chinian, swimming in the river Orb, lunch at the restaurant @”la cave St Martin”.
The Héric gorges, hiking in the gorges and swimming, dinner in the beautiful village of Assignan
If you stay longer, don’t hesitate to ask me for advice, the Aude still has a lot to offer!
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